Despite a little cool weather, the racing at the Industry Grand was anything but cool! And there were surprises galore, as only one rider, Broc Nicol, came away with a near-perfect score in the City of Industry, California, on March 29. Near perfect? Yes, because after a full night of racing with a new engine setup and three straight heat-race wins. Nicol’s main event almost turned into a destruction derby.
By Richard Haight
Every one of the acknowledged heavyweights and champions ended up with a loss of one kind or another. Right off the bat, California Champion Max Ruml couldn’t get past fourth place in the Handicap heat that set the main event. Only the first three places advance. In the next Handicap heat, it was AMA National champ Nicol who got relegated to fifth by Alex Martin, Slater Lightcap, Charlie Trana and Levi Leutz.
Next up was the three-race Miss & Out Challenge. After each one-lap race, the last man is eliminated. Talk about do or die! The third heat is a two-lap dash between the remaining riders, and Lightcap put it to Austin Novratil for the win. As the night progressed, Nicol won his next three Scratch heats to advance to the semis and Ruml won two out of three to advance, losing one heat to Novratil in the process. In the semis, Lightcap laid down four perfect laps to give Nicol his second defeat of the night, and Russell Green held off Ruml in the second semi-main.
In the “Destruction Derby,” when the final grid lined up, it was Nicol, Lightcap, Ruml and Green for all the bucks. It didn’t last long because the first turn became a three-man crash, with Ruml getting thumped and only Nicol coming away unscathed. Speedway rules call for the exclusion of a rider causing a crash, so Lightcap was out, making it a three-man main event. When the gate went up, it was a two-man race, with Ruml holding off Nicol for a close win.
Richard Haight
Scratch Main
- Max Ruml
- Broc Nicol
- Russell Green
Handicap Main
- Charlie Trana
- Alex Martin
- Justin Almon
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